AMD gears up to take on ultrabooks

While Intel is busy spreading the ultrabook gospel to consumers and partners alike, AMD seems to be working along similar lines and preparing mobile platforms suitable for ultrathin notebooks.

By June 2012 AMD will launch Deccan, a new platform based on 28nm Krishna APUs, but Digitimes claims plans are underway to develop a second platform, Kerala. The new platform will be based on Kabini APUs and AMD hopes it will allow it to compete against Intel’s Ivy Bridge and Haswell platforms. It would be a rather interesting development to see AMD chips in thin and cheap notebooks, since Intel is handsomely subsidizing the development of technologies that make them possible and there’s no doubt AMD would also benefit from Intel programs in the long run.

However, AMD’s plans in the mainstream notebook marked seem to have suffered due to poor Llano yields. Compounded with repeated delays, AMD was really unable to cash in on Intel’s chipset issues earlier this year and market watchers now believe AMD won’t resolve yield issues until Trinity APUs enter production next year. By 2013, Trinity will be replaced by the Indus platform, based on Kaveri APUs.